


Cons & the Cape Cod

by Browneyesparker



Category: The Mentalist
Genre: Angst, Coastal, Cons, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, The Cape Cod, The Mentalist - Freeform, beach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-09
Updated: 2014-07-30
Packaged: 2018-01-18 19:39:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 19,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1440343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Browneyesparker/pseuds/Browneyesparker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I hope that I am doing the right thing here. I hope that we get out of this alive. . .</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_He asked me to run away with him. To give up my whole life and leave California, just the two of us. No more CBI, no more murder. . . no more Red John. This is so out of character for him, he would never give up his quest for revenge. I can’t help but think there’s something going on here, something that he isn’t telling me because it is Jane. But I always go along with Jane even though there are always great consequences looming in the distance. I hope that I am doing the right thing here. I hope that we get out of this alive. . ._

**.**

“You’re up early.”

Teresa Lisbon looked up and saw Patrick Jane standing in the porch doorway, watching her.

“Couldn’t sleep,” she replied, dropping her pen in the journal she’d purchased at the airport gift shop and flexing her fingers. “It’s only. . .”

“Three in California,” Jane finished for her. “Three AM to be exact.”

“You’re awake,” she pointed out.

“I’m an insomniac,” Jane replied. “I always keep odd hours.”

“Are you going to tell me why you dragged me all the way to Massachusetts?” Lisbon asked.

“I didn’t exactly drag you here, now did I?” Jane answered. “You came with me on your own free will.”

Lisbon rolled her eyes but didn’t answer him. Instead, she continued to try and find out what his intent was by dropping everything and running off to a peninsula. “Is this a long con or something?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jane answered. “How about we go and get some breakfast. I know a great coffee shop in Orleans; I hear they make a killer espresso.”

Lisbon sighed and ran her fingers along the hem of her pajama shorts. “Okay, I just need to go and get dressed. Hold on a minute.”

**.**

A girl with a sleeve tattoo and an expression that said she wanted to be anywhere but at the coffee shop took their orders. Jane made small talk with her, but nothing he said or did made her crack a smile.

  
So, they took their breakfast and drinks outside, and sat on a rustic bench in the back of the cafe.

  
“Why are we here?” Lisbon asked again.

“For breakfast,” Jane answered, taking a sip of his smoothie before tearing into his egg sandwich.

“That’s not what I meant!” Lisbon answered crossly.

“Why did you agree to come with me?”

“Good question,” Lisbon muttered. “Maybe because I was afraid of what would happen if I let you go off by yourself.”

“Mmmh,” Jane said. “I’m sure that’s what it was. The truth is you love the excitement Lisbon. You dropped everything and came with me because you always suspect there’s something more going on here than I’m leading you to believe. ”

Lisbon glared at him and took a bite of her cinnamon raisin bagel. “I know you wouldn’t give up on Red John just like that. You’ve worked too hard and too long to do that. So, coming all the way here has to do something with him. Did you drag me all the way here because he’s here or what?”  

Jane sighed and put his sandwich down on his napkin. “Fine, if you must know what’s going on, I’ll tell you exactly what’s going on. I want him to think I’ve given up on chasing him.”

“So we run away without telling anybody and you think he’ll buy your act just like that?” Lisbon asked, raising her eyebrow at him.  

“It’s worth a shot, yes. What do we lose by trying?”

“But what do we gain if it doesn’t work?” Lisbon answered. “Without you in the picture, he could very well get bored and stop the killings.”

“Or he could try and draw us back by doubling the killings,” Jane said. “Or he could follow us here and start killing in a whole new state.”

“Lovely,” Lisbon said dryly. “You’ve just unleashed a serial killer on the poor unknowing women of Massachusetts.”

“Eh, it isn’t like they haven’t faced the threat of them before. There was Albert DeSalvo, the Boston Strangler and Alfred Gaynor.”

Lisbon rolled her eyes. “And what if he doesn’t double the California killings? What if he doesn’t follow us here?”

“Now Lisbon, we both know you wouldn’t have come with me if you didn’t think my plan would work,” Jane told her.

Lisbon sighed, he was right. If she didn’t have at least an inkling that he knew what he was doing, she would have never agreed to give up her whole life and risk her career on a long con that would ruin it.

“Okay, so you’re right,” she admitted. “I would have never come along with you if I didn’t think it would work. But what do you want me to do?”

  
“What do I want you to do?” Jane said, smiling at her. “Why you’ll pretend to be my girlfriend of course!”

  
“Pretend to be your girlfriend!?” Lisbon repeated, slamming her cup of coffee down on the bench. “I’m beginning to think that you’re not pretending that you lost it.”

  
“Oh calm down!” Jane told her. “It isn’t like it’s that crazy. Let’s just say that I did give it all up, maybe I could convince you to give it up all with me. In fact, I just did yesterday morning. Red John knows you’re my Achilles heel.”

“I am not!” Lisbon retorted.

“If Rachel, a girl who needed medication by the way, knew you were my weakness than Red John definitely knows you are.”

“Okay, so for the sake of the argument, we’ll say you’re right. I’m your Achilles heel. But I still don’t see why I’d leave my whole life and a good career behind just for you.”

  
“Because you’d want to make sure I was okay,” Jane replied.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Lisbon said tersely. “Right now I’m wishing you’d take a long walk off a short pier. That’s something I’m sure is more than easy to arrange around here.”

Jane made a face. “Cute. But I’m being serious. If we want Red John to think this is real, he needs to think I’ve moved on. And I think it’s only logical that if I were going to move on, I’d move on with you.”

  
Lisbon sighed. “Okay, if you really think it’s going to work then I guess I could pretend for a little while that we’ve moved on together. If you think it’ll really work.”

  
“I do,” Jane said sincerely. “I really do.”

“But if it doesn’t, you owe me big time!” She told him.

“If it doesn’t work, I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you,” Jane promised.

“I’m going to hold you to that,” Lisbon answered. “Come on, let’s finish up breakfast and find a grocery store so we can buy some food.”

“There’s a supermarket called Shaws in Brewster,” Jane said. “We can go there to pick up some groceries.”

They walked back to the car together and he reached for her hand with his free one. At first, she was startled by the physical contact. He had only other touched her when he wanted something from her or when he was thanking her for something that she had done for him. To have him hold her hand out of nowhere was a whole new experience for her, even though she knew that it was just part of a con.

**.**

They took their time in Shaw’s, getting the feel of a new territory while he filled the cart with local specialties like Cape Cod potato chips, Turkey Hill ice cream and Green Mountain coffee, while she made sure they had more practical items like fruits and vegetables and meat for dinner. She tried to ignore his public displays of affection, tried to concentrate on the task at hand. But she failed miserably; all of her most secret dreams were coming to life in broad daylight. She forgot to care that there was an ulterior-motive behind his touch and allowed herself to just be with him in the moment. She told herself it would be more convincing that way.

They paid for their groceries, put the food in the back seat of the rental car and started back for Wellfleet in relative silence while Lisbon tried to figure out a way to ask him the questions that were dancing around in her head.

Finally, she decided to just bite the bullet and ask him.

She cleared her throat. “So, how did you acquire a home in the Cape Cod? Are you just renting it or do you own it?”

“Goldenrod belongs to me,” Jane confirmed. “I won it playing poker a few years ago. I just never had much use for it until now.”

“Goldenrod?” Lisbon asked.

“All the houses in Wellfleet have names,” Jane replied. “The house up the street from us is named Marigold and the one in back of us is called Strawberry Fields.”

  
Lisbon laughed and shook her head. “Well, the good news is we can stay here for as long as we want without running up a major debt.”

“That does work in our favor, doesn’t it?” Jane conceded, grinning at her.

  
“So, have you ever been to the Cape Cod?” Lisbon asked.

“The carnival set up in Nantucket for the better part of twenty years,” Jane told her. “And I researched Wellfleet and the surrounding towns. I know all the best spots to get dinner and the ponds that won’t give you a raging case of swimmer’s ear. I know all the best beaches to go and watch the sunset. I even looked up a church for you to go to mass, it’s about thirty-seven minutes away but it’ll do. I think in time we can both be very happy here.”

“I don’t know,” Lisbon answered with a sigh. “We might get bored and start to hate each other.”

“If that happens, the Wellfleet public library is right down the street from where we’re living. They have plenty of books and movies to keep us entertained. Remember, we’re supposed to make it seem like we’ve given up our whole lives to be together. Even if you start to hate me or resent me, try to pretend you don’t.”

“I’ll try, but I’m not making any promises,” Lisbon muttered.

“I’m not asking you to,” Jane said. “I know you’re going to ask me what the rest of the plan is, so I’ll just tell you. Today, we’re going to finish getting settled in and tomorrow we’ll get a parking permit for the beaches and the lake, then go and sign up for library cards. Afterwards, we’ll take a walk through downtown Wellfleet and look at the art galleries, maybe make a purchase or two if anything strikes your fancy. We want Goldenrod to be a blend of our tastes, not somebody else. Then in a few days, we’ll return the rental car and buy one of our own. I’m thinking something vintage. Maybe a cherry red convertible with a top that comes down. Also, we need to get some new clothes. Your current wardrobe is entirely too cop-ish for a beach town.”

“What about you?” Lisbon asked. “Are you going to change your whole entire wardrobe? I think Armani is a little too stuck up for Wellfleet, Cape Cod.”

“Yes,” Jane answered. “I’m planning on changing my wardrobe too. I understand that it works both ways when it comes to this long con.”

Lisbon grinned. “And are we going to divide the housework? I didn’t come all this way to be your personal maid.”

“Of course!” Jane answered. “I even made up a schedule for us. I figured we’d take turns cooking and then I’d do things like laundry and cleaning the bathroom. You can vacuum and dust and we’ll clean the kitchen up together.”

“It sounds like you thought of everything,” Lisbon said.

Jane nodded. “I did. I really want this to work. If it does. . .”

“If it does, what?” Lisbon prodded when he had trailed off.

“Everything is going to change,” Jane finished. “And for the better too.”

“I hope so,” Lisbon said with a deep sigh as she turned to look at the passing hotels and family owned businesses. “I really hope so.”

Jane took his hand off the wheel and placed it on top of her’s. “I promise Teresa, it will.”

  
She looked back at him and offered him a wan smile. “Just don’t make promises you can’t keep Patrick.” his given name felt foreign on her lips, but she used it anyways. She needed to get used to calling him that, since they were pretending to be a couple. “If this going to work, you need to promise me that you’ll try and not do that.”

Jane nodded. “Okay, I’ll try. But I’m not making any promises.”

Lisbon laughed at this, and then she turned the radio on and allowed him to hold her hand the rest of the way back to their new home.

  


**TBC. . .**

**.**


	2. Chapter 2

 

“They’re _gone_?” Thomas McAllister looked at Gale Bertram like he had grown two heads. “What do you mean they’re _gone_?”

 

“They’re not working with the CBI anymore; nobody’s seen or heard from them in four days. They’re _gone_ ,” Bertram explained patiently.

 

“Did they tell you where they were going or _why_ they were going?” McAllister asked, folding his arms across his chest and giving the CBI director a hard look.   


“They didn’t say anything,” Bertram answered. “They just disappeared into thin air. But I had Smith follow them to the airport. He used his FBI badge, asked a few questions and found out that they had taken a flight to Boston, Massachusetts.”  


McAllister frowned. “Boston, Massachusetts? What’s in Boston?”  


“The Red Sox? Fenway Park? I don’t know, but my sources tell me that they were just flying into Boston not staying there. Jane has a little house in the Cape Cod; something tells me that he and Agent Lisbon were headed _there_.”

 

“Mmmh. He must finally be giving up,” McAllister mused, smiling to himself. “And you say that Agent Lisbon went with him?”

 

“Yes,” Bertram confirmed. “She just dropped everything and followed him to a little town in the

Cape Cod. Quite out of character for her, if you ask me.”

 

“No,” McAllister said. “That woman is _crazy_ about Patrick Jane. She’d follow him to the grave if he asked her to. She’s constantly putting her career and her life on the line for him, why is this so different?”

 

Bertram sighed. “I guess you’re right.”

  
McAllister took a long sip of his coffee and then pulled a cell phone out. “So, it seems that he’s finally moving on just like I had Timothy Carter suggest last year. Good for him. But I need to make sure that this is real, that he isn’t just trying to con me.”

 

“And how are you going to do that?” Bertram asked.

 

McAllister smiled, pressed the speed dial, and put the cell phone to his hear. “Lorelei? Roy here, I was wondering if you had plans for the rest of the summer. You don’t! Perfect, how would you like to spend a few months in the Cape Cod?”

  
**.**

  
“So you just want me to befriend them?” Lorelei Martins asked, surveying the clothes that were strewn all over her bed.

 

“Befriend them, get them to trust you. Especially Agent Lisbon,” McAllister answered. “Get her to engage in some of that chick talk, maybe she’ll tell you what’s really going on between the two of them.”

 

“You think they’re going away together is all an act?” Lorelei asked.

 

“I wouldn’t put anything past Patrick Jane,” McAllister answered flatly. “He’s a tricky one, he is.”

 

Lorelei grinned and ran comforting fingers up and down the length of his arm. “But that’s why you like going up against him so much. He always keeps you guessing, always keeps you on your toes.”

  
McAllister grabbed her hands and held onto them. “Just make sure you find out what’s going on there, okay? I want a full report every night.”

 

“Yes boss,” Lorelei answered with a mock salute.

  
“And bring this,” McAllister said, holding up a deep red bikini. “You always look so fetching in red.”

  
“Of course! It’ll be the first thing I pack,” Lorelei replied, taking it from him and tucking it in to her suitcase.

 

McAllister smiled and pecked her on the cheek. “You’re always so good to me.”

 

“You’re not staying tonight?” Lorelei asked.

 

“You have an early flight tomorrow and you need to start packing,” McAllister answered.

  
“Besides, the wife is expecting me to come home tonight. It’s been a long week.”  


“And you spent most of it with Rosalind Harker.” Lorelei pouted. “I miss you Roy.”

 

“And I miss you too,” McAllister told her. “Just, there are things that need to be done Lore. You have to understand that. Now come on, pack your bags like a big girl and I’ll try to come out and see you in the Cape Cod when I have a weekend off.”

 

“Oh? How will you explain _that_ to your wife? Men like you don’t just jet off to the Cape Cod for the weekend.”

 

“You leave all the details to me and just worry about the task I gave you,” McAllister answered, kissing her. “I really have to go now darling. Call me when you touch down in Boston.”

  
“Yes Roy,” Lorelei answered submissively.

 

“And don’t deviate from the plan,” McAllister reminded her. “You’re just there to befriend them, not seduce Patrick Jane.”

Lorelei’s lips twisted into a smile. “Of course, he isn’t like all the other business men you’ve thrown at me. He doesn’t need entertainment, does he? Not when he has the fetching Agent Lisbon to help him with _that_.”

 

“Stop distracting me! I really have to go.”

  
Lorelei laughed flirtatiously. “Sorry. I’ll let you go now, see you soon.”

 

“See you soon,” McAllister replied. “I’ll send somebody to drive you to the airport in the morning.”

And then he was gone, leaving her alone to pack her bags and prepare for a long con of her own.

**.**

 

She reached Boston at 10 AM Eastern time, she was exhausted after her flight but she gathered up her bags and went outside where her ride to a car dealership would be waiting for her, ready and willing to do Red John’s bidding.

 

Four hours later, she was pulling into the driveway of her new home. She left her luggage in the trunk of her new town car and made her way to the house, ready for a long nap. Lucky for her, the whole place had already been set up with everything she needed; all she would have to do was unpack her bags.

 

She flopped down on the couch and sighed in contentment as a gentle sea breeze drifted through an open window. This was her easiest job to date, there weren’t any needy men waiting for her to meet their every whim and the whole house was ready for her use. It was practically like taking an all-expense paid vacation. She smiled to herself as she drifted off to sleep. Yes her job as Red John’s mistress definitely had its perks.

  


**.**

  
It was dark when she finally woke up; her first day was completely gone. Lorelei groaned and slid her phone out of her pocket; she had half a dozen text messages from Red John. Each of them asking her if she was okay and why he hadn’t heard from her yet.

  
Lorelei smiled at his concern and quickly typed a reply.

  
_Fell asleep, completely lost track of time. Sorry._

 

A few minutes later, she was rewarded with another text.

  
_That’s okay. I knew you’d want to take the first day to get settled, anyways. Have some dinner and then get some more rest. You can concentrate on finding J/L in a couple of days. I’ll get in touch soon. With R._

  
Lorelei rolled her eyes; _of course_ he was with Rosalind. She was his favorite lover, she was the one who had no idea who he really was or what he really did. Well, aside from his wife, that was. To his wife, he was just a small town sheriff.  

  
She sighed.

  
_Have a good time tonight. Looking forward to talking to you. Goodnight._

  
_Goodnight Lorelei. Sweet dreams._

  
Lorelei tossed her phone on the couch and padded towards the stereo, she smiled when she saw that Red John had made sure her music library was well stocked with her favorite albums. She picked one, put it in the expensive CD player and pressed play. As she went to the kitchen and prepared a light meal, she determined to do a thorough job on the task set before her. She would make Red John see her true worth even if it killed her.

  
And she was almost certain that it would. Because almost everything and everybody that Red John touched didn’t survive.

  
**TBC. . .**

  
.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s chapter 2, I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave your thoughts in the box below, reviews are always appreciated but not expected. Chapter 3, I’ll get back to Jane and Lisbon. See you all soon.
> 
> Love,
> 
> Holly, 4/15/2014_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_Things are slow-paced here. There aren’t any alarm clocks or deadlines to meet, paperwork isn’t in my vocabulary, and it’s easy to forget just a mere fourteen days ago, I had a boss breathing down my neck to get control of my man.  It is just me and Jane, and a lake that they call_ Gull Pond _even though there aren’t any gulls to be seen there. I thought by now, I’d be going crazy out of my mind, delirious with the need to do something. But the truth is, I am quite content with my new life. I haven’t had a migraine or stomach pains since we arrived in this beautiful place. It is easy to forget this is all pretend and that we could be found out any day by Red John or one of the people who work for him._

 

.

 

“There you are!” Jane said, joining her out on the porch. “I was wondering where you’d gotten off to.”  


“Not very far,” Lisbon answered. “I couldn’t sleep anymore, so I got up early and went for a jog.”

 

“You can take the woman out of the police, but you can’t take the police of the woman.”

 

“Ha! Believe it or not, I’m quite enjoying this sort of lifestyle!” Lisbon informed him. “I can’t tell you the last time I had to take Tums, my indigestion is gone. And I haven’t had a migraine since we got here either.”

 

“That’s probably because you’re eating regular meals and your head isn’t bent over a stack of paperwork for hours on end.”

 

“And who’s fault is it that I had so much paperwork to do?” Lisbon retorted, smiling inspite of herself and eyeing the cup in his hand. “Is that for me?”

 

“Of course!” Jane answered. “I wouldn’t drink this stuff even if it were a matter of life or death.”

 

“You don’t know that,” Lisbon said, taking the rich brew from him and inhaling it. “I’m sure if you were faced with the possibility of death, you would be singing a different tune.”

 

“Don’t count on it,” Jane replied, sitting down in the chair next to her’s.

 

“Oh, would you like to test _that_ theory then?” Lisbon asked sweetly.

 

“Thanks, but I think that I’ll pass. Besides, all your firearms are back in California. I don’t see how you’d be able to test your brilliant theory without one.”

 

Lisbon took a long sip of coffee and smirked. “Don’t tempt me because I’m sure I could think of ways to do it.”

 

“Oh I don’t doubt that. You, my dear, could do anything you put your mind to.”

 

“So, is there anything particular you’d like to do today?” Lisbon asked, putting her coffee down and tucking her hair behind her ears.

 

“Not really, no. Is there anything that you’d like to do?”

 

“Well, I need to return a few library books and maybe go to the grocery store to pick something up for dinner. But other than that, my day is entirely free.”

 

“Mmmmh,” Jane said. “How about we go and get a dog then? I know that you’ve always wanted one, but you’ve never gotten one because of the unpredictable hours on the job.”

 

“A dog?” Lisbon repeated, smiling a little bit at the idea. “Yeah, I guess we could do that. And a dog would be further proof that you’re really settling down. . . that you’re really moving on. Wouldn’t it?”

 

“It would help,” Jane admitted. “But that isn’t why I’m doing it. I just want to make you happy. I don’t want to give you any reason to leave me, Teresa. And you already have reason enough to go.”

 

“That’s just a line, isn’t it?”

 

Jane shook his head. “Nope. Not a line.”

 

_Because now that I have you, there is_ no _way I want to lose you._

 

“You’re right, I _have_ wanted to get a dog in the past few years,” Lisbon said, biting on her lower lip. “A dog would be nice. Yes, I think a dog would be a _very_ nice addition to our new life together.”

 

“Good! It’s settled then, we’ll go to the animal shelter and pick out a dog this afternoon! But first, let’s go and get some breakfast because I’m not in the mood to cook this morning.”

 

“Okay,” Lisbon agreed. “We can leave just as soon as I take a shower and round up the rest of the library books.”

 

“Take your time,” Jane answered. “It isn’t like we have anything important to do or anywhere important to be.”

 

An hour later, they were on their way to the Hot Chocolate Sparrow, with a pile of books in the back seat and a romantic standard on the radio. They discussed the books they had been reading and talked about going to the drive-in movie theater that weekend. And he held her hand the whole time, he had become addicted to holding her hand. He did it whenever he got the chance to, which he made sure was very often.

 

After a leisurely breakfast out on what had quickly become their bench, they drove back to Wellfleet and made a stop at the library, they returned their items and promised their new favorite librarian that they would be back to pick up some more books later in the week. Then they went to the animal shelter to pick out their dog.

 

They wound up adopting a dachshund puppy named Archie. He had liquid chocolate brown eyes and a regal nose. It wasn’t a dog that either one of them would have picked in the first place, they had gone into the shelter looking for a golden retriever or a black lab. But there was something about the little dog that spoke to the both of them.

 

Lisbon held the dog the whole way home. She petted his ears the whole time, unable to stop the huge grin that was growing on her face.

 

“Patrick,” she asked after a moment. “What happens if Red John doesn’t take the bait? Aren’t you going to want to go back to California and pick up where we left off?”

 

Jane paused for a moment, thinking about what a life back in California would look like if they ever returned. He discovered that even though he wanted to see Red John caught and properly taken care of, a life with Lisbon was just as great of a temptation.  He sighed and took her free hand in his, rubbing circles on her knuckles.

 

“I don’t know,” he said. “I guess no matter what happens, everything’s going to have to change for better or for worse.”

 

“Do you think you’ll ever be able to really move on?” Lisbon asked as Archie rested his head in her lap. “For keeps, I mean?”

 

“Are you interested?” Jane dared to ask.

 

“Put a pin in it,” Lisbon answered. “Ask me again when this all over and we’ll see what happens.”

 

Jane inwardly crossed his fingers that their charade would become a reality. Up until these last few weeks together, he hadn’t realized how much he really wanted a life with her. There had been moments that he had entertained having a life with her, but he’d dismissed them as soon as the thoughts had entered his mind. It wasn’t because she was a distraction, it was because she was another breakdown wrapped up in a terrible heartbreak that he didn’t want to face. . . that he didn’t know if he _could_ face. He knew if anything had happened to her, he wouldn’t have survived it.

 

He stopped rubbing circles on her hand but didn’t release it. “Well, just let me know when you want to talk about it some more.”

 

“I will,” Lisbon told him sincerely. “I promise that I will.”

 

**.**

 

It was almost going to rain when they got home. Jane rolled the top up on their convertible and then went around to the passenger side of the car to get Lisbon. They made a run for it and made it to the back porch just as the clouds opened and drenched the world with water.

 

“Come on,” Lisbon said, fishing her key out of her purse and unlocking the front door. “I’ll start dinner.”

 

“Okay,” Jane agreed following her into the house and relieving her of Archie.  

 

He went into the living room and turned on some music, then he rejoined her in the kitchen. She had kicked her sandals off and pulled her hair back into a low ponytail. She was swaying her hips to the song on the stereo and chopping up lettuce for sandwiches. He watched her, his pulse skittering slightly. He wanted to go to her, to take her in his arms and dance with her.

 

He took a step towards her and then another one, a llittle more sure of himself as he got closer to her. Then he took the knife from her hand and put it down on the counter, he turned her around and put his arms around her.

 

“Jane. . . we can’t. . . I need to make dinner!” Lisbon pretended to protest as he moved her away from the counter and held her close, moving slowly with her, Archie squished between them.

 

“Dinner can wait,” Jane said, his face just a breath away from her face. “I’m not very hungry right now.”

 

Lisbon realized that she wasn’t either.

 

**TBC. . .**

 

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, just leave a review if you liked this. I’m looking forward to hearing your feedback. Shout out to an online friend for giving me the name Archie for the dog. 
> 
> Until next time!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

He danced with me while I was making dinner. . . it seemed to last forever, it was over too soon. In that moment, it was only me and him. . . and Archie. I can’t forget Archie, the adorable little dachshund that we adopted. He was squished between us while we danced, never barking or squirming. He is quite the tolerant little dog, unlike all of the other dogs I’ve owned in my life. But everything these days seems too easy. I am afraid of what’s going to happen next. . . I’m afraid that one day I’m going to wake up and discover I am in the middle of a nightmare.

.

The slow song ended, seamlessly transferring to the next track. It was a little more upbeat, not the most ideal tune for a slow dance, but they continued to sway together like it was. After a few seconds, she pulled away slightly and looked at him.

“I have to finish making dinner.”

Jane took her wrist to stop her as she entangled herself from his embrace. For a second, Lisbon thought that he was going to kiss her even though her mind screamed that she was being illogical. He wasn’t going to kiss her, not when there wasn’t a need to. So far, they hadn’t run into anybody who was going to question their relationship, so their was no need for physical displays of affection. There was no need to up the ante, to change the status quo and make things between them awkward.

Lisbon released a deep breath and wrenched her wrist from his grasp. “I’ll call you when I’m done. Just go and relax for a little bit. Okay?” 

He complied without saying a word, without trying to reach out for her again. When he had disappeared from view, she turned around and continued to chop lettuce like nothing had just happened between them. 

When she was finished making sandwiches, she dumped some potato chips into a bowl, then cut half of a watermelon into wedges. Then ducked into the living room to place a blanket on the floor so they could have an indoor picnic. She went through the CDs and picked out a Corinne Bailey Rae album, she slipped it into the stereo player and pressed play. She listened for a moment, the words on the first song speaking to her more than she wanted them to. She shook her head and walked back to the kitchen to get dinner. 

After setting the spread out, she took the stairs two at a time to get Jane. She peeked into their bedroom and found him sprawled out on the bed, eyes closed, Archie napping on his stomach. She watched him, thinking about how much younger he looked barefoot, and wearing aqua blue Bermuda shorts with a loose, white button-down shirt. After a moment, she went in and sat down on the edge of the bed, gently touching his knee.

“Dinner’s all ready,” she said.

“I’m coming,” Jane answered, sitting up and startling Archie awake as he stretched out. 

“Did I wake you up?” She asked.

“No,” Jane replied. “I was just resting my eyes. . . I don’t quite have the insomnia beat. Not yet anyways.”

“Well, the ocean air should help chase it away eventually,” Lisbon said, taking her hand off his knee. “Come on. There’s nothing worst than a soggy sandwich and stale potato chips.” 

Jane swung his legs over the bed and caught her hand in his, pulling her up to her feet with him. She smiled when he didn’t let go and led her out the door and down the stairs instead, Archie at their heels. 

“A picnic?” Jane asked, stopping on the landing and looking at her step up. “Wow. . . I haven’t had an indoor picnic since I was a little boy and I was sick with a cold. Sam was trying to cheer me up.”

“Yeah,” Lisbon agreed. “It’s been a while since I had one too. But since it’s raining and all we’re having is sandwiches for dinner. . . I thought that it could be fun.”

Jane nodded. “Thank you.”

Lisbon looked up at him, startled. “For what?” 

“For agreeing to do this,” Jane replied. “For being here with me and helping me out. If you hadn’t come with me, I probably would have had to go with plan B.”

“Oh? And what was plan B exactly?” 

“I’ll tell you later,” he promised. 

While they ate, the rainstorm cleared up and bathed the street in brilliant sunshine. So, after they were done cleaning up, Jane suggested that they take a walk downtown and get some ice cream. The rain had chased away the warmer weather, so they pulled on sweatshirts and made their way to PJs where they paid a little too much for an ice cream cone. 

They sat on a bench and watched families and couples pass them by, while Jane wrapped his arm around Lisbon and let her rest her head on his shoulder. They were perfectly content to stay that way until twilight came and they had to walk back because it was getting dark and the streetlights were starting to turn on. 

In that moment, everything was breathlessly perfect.

.

Later that night, Lisbon laid on her back in the dark, staring at the moon through skylight while Jane laid on his stomach with his arm slung across her chest. It was a pleasant weight, something she hadn’t experienced in a while and even when she had, it hadn’t felt this right though. Everything in her told her that he was the one she was supposed to be with. That she had found her person, everything in her had told her that she had always known this, she had just been blinded by their atmosphere and his distance with her. 

He shifted slightly and she turned to look at him. 

“Sorry,” Jane said, his voice muffled by the pillow. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“I wasn’t sleeping,” Lisbon answered, trying not to be disappointed when he moved away from her. “How about we go downstairs and get something to drink? Maybe a cup of tea will do the trick to put us both to sleep.”

“Well, if you don’t mind. . .” Jane replied kicking the covers off and sitting up. 

Lisbon put her finger to her lips. “Shhh, Archie’s sleeping!”

“Are you really that kind of person?” Jane asked, following her out of bed and down the stairs.

“What kind of person?” Lisbon asked pulling her robe on and turning around to look at him.

“The kind of person who cares about their pets more than people.”

“No!” Lisbon answered with mock indignation. “I just don’t want to take Archie out, that’s all.”

“Well we better all the same, you wouldn’t want him to have an accident in our bed. Would you?”

Lisbon made a face at him. “Since you brought it up then why don’t you take him out while I make the tea?”

“Okay!” Jane said agreeably, turning around and taking the stairs two at a time. 

Lisbon continued to the kitchen and put a pot of water on the stove then searched the cabinet for some tea that would help them both relax. A few minutes later, Jane joined her and reached for the box of treats on top of the fridge. He fed one to Archie and watched her finish making the tea, before reaching around her and bringing them to the living room. 

They curled up at either end of the couch and watched each other while they sipped their tea, not saying anything to each other while they did. After a while, Lisbon could feel the effects of the tea start to take over. She didn’t know if it was actually from the ingredients in the tea or if it was all in her head. 

“Come on,” Jane said, setting his tea down on the floor and lifting her up. “Let’s get you to bed, darling.” 

As soon as her head hit the pillow, she slept. She hardly noticed that Jane had wrapped his arms around her and curled up next to her.

TBC. . . 

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is all over the place. I’m sorry. . . but I’ve been sick with a nasty spring cold (they’re always SO nasty in the spring!) and then the finale has me on tenterhooks, I know we’ll have a happy ending, but I’m dying to see it! And now we have the beautiful possibility of a canon-Jisbon in season 7. So, yeah. Those are my excuses. Tell me what you thought!  
> And Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms reading this story. Us younger girls couldn’t do it without you. 
> 
> Love,
> 
> Holly, 5/10/2014_


	5. Chapter 5

.  
Chapter 5  
Lorelei looked around Our Lady of the Cape Cod church until she spotted the petite brunette at the front of the sanctuary. She adjusted her knee-length skirt and then made her way over to her. She cleared her throat and pasted on her best smile.

“Hey, is this seat free?” She asked.

The other woman looked up, returned her smile, and moved her Bible to the other side of her. “Yes,” she answered. 

Lorelei sat down and then turned to introduce herself. “Hi, I’m Lorelei Martins.”

“Nice to meet you Lorelei,” she answered. “I’m Teresa Lisbon. I haven’t seen you here before, are you visiting for the summer?”

“You could say that,” Lorelei replied. “My boyfriend set me up here for the summer. . . he’s going to be really busy with work and things. He has to be in Europe for a while; he wanted to keep me busy while we were apart. What about you? Are you here for the summer?”

Lisbon hesitated and then she shrugged. “We’re playing it by ear,” she said. 

“Playing it by ear?” Lorelei repeated.

Lisbon opened her mouth to answer when the service began. She fell into reverent silence and Lorelei’s thoughts wandered to Thomas McCallister. She’d been in the Cape Cod for eight days and she hadn’t heard from him since she’d landed in Boston. She knew he was probably busy, but she still couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy towards the lady he was probably spending his nights with.

She sighed audibly and then smiled when she caught Lisbon looking at her. “Sorry,” she mouthed.

Finally, the Mass was over. Lorelei swallowed a large yawn and looked over at Lisbon. “Thanks for letting me sit with you.”

“No problem!” Lisbon replied. “Hey, my boyfriend and I are going to grab some lunch at a seafood place. Would you like to come with us?”

Lorelei triumphed inwardly. She barely had to lift a finger and this woman was extending the olive branch of friendship. If this didn’t garner any attention from Tom, she didn’t know what would.

She smiled. “I would love to have dinner with you and your boyfriend! Thanks!”

“Fabulous! He should be here soon, let’s go and wait for him outside.”

“Okay!” Lorelei said and followed Lisbon out of the sanctuary. 

The other woman stopped and talked to the priest for a few seconds, thanking him for the homily and telling him how wonderful it was. Lorelei nodded her agreement because it seemed the right thing to do. And then Lisbon was leading her over to a convertible where a gorgeous blonde man was waiting and Lorelei rejoiced at how smoothly everything was going.

“Hey!” Lisbon said, leaning in and giving him a chaste peck on the mouth. 

“How was church this morning?” He asked. 

“Good,” Lisbon answered. “I made a new friend today. Lorelei Martins, this is Patrick Jane. Patrick Jane, this is Lorelei Martins.”

“Pleasure to meet you Lorelei,” Jane said, observing her carefully. 

“Same with you,” Lorelei replied, fending off the urge to pull up her collar even though she was barely showing any skin as it was.

“Lorelei is going to have lunch with us today,” Lisbon told Jane. “If that’s okay with you.”

“It’s fine,” Jane answered, still looking at her like he was trying to see into her soul. “Just fine.”

“Lorelei, you don’t mind following us to the restaurant do you?” Lisbon asked as she slipped into the front seat.

“Of course not!” Lorelei answered, smiling good-naturedly, starting for her car. “I’ll see you two at the restaurant!”

When the couple was out of sight, she slid into her car and fished her cell phone out of her purse. She punched in her speed dial and pressed the phone to her hair. “Hello Thomas, its Lorelei. I’m in.”

.

A short while later, she was pulling into the restaurant parking lot. After she had lost Jane and Lisbon (on purpose, she wouldn’t have traded her precious conversation with Tom in for anything), she had plugged in the address to JTs and followed the mechanical voice’s instructions until she had come upon the local seafood joint.

Jane and Lisbon were standing by the door, holding hands and waiting for her. 

“There you are!” Lisbon said. “I thought you had gotten lost.”

“I took a wrong turn,” Lorelei answered. “But I stopped to ask for help and one of the locals was kind enough to point me the right direction.”

“Well, come on, let’s go and eat. I don’t know about you but I’m starving!”

“I told you to eat breakfast,” Jane said. 

“I did eat breakfast!” Lisbon replied as he held the door open for Lorelei.

“An apple and coffee hardly count as breakfast,” Jane retorted good-naturedly. 

“How long have you two been together?” Lorelei asked after they had been seated at a picnic table outside in the warm afternoon sun.

“It’s been a little over eight years,” Jane answered, placing his hand over Lisbon’s. 

“Eight years?” Lorelei repeated. “Eight years and you two aren’t married yet?”

“We’ve talked about it,” Lisbon said. “It’s just. . . we’re always so busy, getting married never seems to fit into our schedules. But we want to one day.”

Lorelei nodded and toyed with her menu. “Well, I hope you two can get around to it someday.”

Jane smiled adoringly at Lisbon. “I do too.”

“Patrick,” Lisbon murmured, blushing prettily.

Lorelei cleared her throat. “So, can we order now? I’m starting to get pretty hungry too.”

“Of course,” Jane answered, signaling for the waiter. 

They ate lobster salad sandwiches with Cape Cod, dill pickles, and lots of icy cold root beer. The whole while, Lorelei observed the pair. She especially watched Lisbon; word around the association was that she was a terrible liar. If this was all a con then her hand would certainly show. 

But she was the perfect girlfriend, attentive and loving; she would have fooled any innocent onlooker. Lorelei herself couldn’t tell if it was a con or the real McCoy. She figured that she was just going to need to spend some more time around the couple just to be sure. She just needed to broach the subject of seeing them again.

Just as she was about to open her mouth and suggest they meet again, Jane beat her to the punch. 

“You know, Lorelei, Teresa would just love to have some female company.”

Lisbon nodded. “Patrick and I need a break from each other sometimes. I would love it if you’d come shopping with me.”

Lorelei smiled at how easy it all was. Everything was going exactly in her favor and it seemed like they didn’t have a clue. 

“That would be excellent!” she answered. 

TBC. . .  
.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note:
> 
> I know it was a short chapter and that it ended abruptly but I needed to put something out there since I haven’t updated in a while. Chapter 6 is basically written, so I’ll post that in the next few days. Leave a review if you want and if you have time, check out my latest story in my Broadway series, “Love Scenes. 
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> Love,  
> Holly, 6/7/2014_


	6. Chapter 6

.  
Chapter 6  
This is it. Our con is going to be made or broken. Red John has sent our judge and jury in the form of a young woman named Lorelei Martins. At least we think that she was sent by Red John. She appeared out of the blue, at my church of all places. She hadn’t been there before. . . and when I asked her, she said she was an out of town visitor too. She is here for the summer because her boyfriend is on an extended business trip in Europe. If Red John did send her, I hope I can convince her that we honestly are together. I hope she doesn’t see right through us and that our con isn’t blown. This is Jane’s last hope, I don’t know what he’ll do if we fail.

.

“It’s going to be okay,” Jane told her as he walked her to their car. “Yes, Red John might have sent her but that doesn’t mean he knows for certain this is all a con. For all we know this is him checking up on us to make sure we’re really moving on. Even then there’s a small, small margin that she isn’t working with Red John.”

“You don’t really believe that though,” Lisbon said, turning around to look at him. “You don’t really believe that she isn’t working for Red John.”

“No,” Jane admitted. “I don’t. She showed up at your church out of the blue, you said it seemed like she was looking for you specifically. But I’m not worried about it, you’re doing brilliantly. I’m sure we can fool her without a problem.”

“You said so yourself, I’m not a good liar. . .” Lisbon trailed off and looked at him. “Patrick, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“Don’t worry about it right now,” Jane told her. “Everything’s going to be okay. Just play it cool.” 

“Play it cool. . . I don’t know if I can play it cool.”

Jane leaned into the convertible and gave her a chaste kiss on the mouth. “You’re going to have to. Lorelei is expecting you any moment now. You better hurry; you wouldn’t want to keep her waiting.”

Lisbon sighed. “Wish me luck.”

“Break a leg,” Jane replied, winking at her. “You’re going to be amazing. We’ve practiced what you’ll say, what you’re going to do. You’ve got it down pat. Now go, I’ll be waiting for you when you get back.”

.

“You would think a place called Christmas Tree Shop would have Christmas trees and ornaments,” Lorelei said as she held up a glass lamp that was filled with sand and seashells and laughed. “This, this is a piece of junk.”

“I don’t know,” Lisbon said. “Somebody might like it.”

“Well, there’s no accounting for taste,” Lorelei answered as she put the lamp back on the shelf and leaned on the shopping cart that Lisbon had picked up on their way into the store. “Which surprises me, you seem to have really good taste.”

Lisbon laughed. “I didn’t say that I liked the lamp. I just said there was somebody out there who would like it.”

“They probably wear polyester suits and have ten cats.”

Lisbon rolled her eyes and shook her head, pushing the carriage forward a little bit and causing Lorelei to jerk slightly. “Come on, let’s go.”

Lorelei straightened and fell into step with Lisbon. “So, how did you and Patrick meet? I don’t think you told me.” 

“I didn’t?” Lisbon asked, pushing a strand of hair away from her face as she sighed. “Well, he just sort of walked into my life one day and nothing was ever the same after that.”

“Was it love at first sight then?” Lorelei asked.

Lisbon pushed another strand of hair behind her hair, then she yanked the ponytail holder off her wrist and pulled her hair up. “Um. . . I guess you could say that, I just didn’t realize that it was love at first sight when I met him. If that makes any sense.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Lorelei answered. “I always recognize when I’m in love or in lust. But mostly when I’m in lust.”

“What about you and your boyfriend?” Lisbon asked, parking in front of a display of hand painted glasses. “Do you love him?”

Lorelei shrugged and watched as Lisbon selected a few glasses with anchors painted on them and put them into the cart. 

“I don’t know,” she answered. “I mean, I’m here and he’s in Europe. He doesn’t want me to be with him the way Patrick wants you to be with him. Maybe we’re just in wild, passionate lust.”

“Don’t you want to find love though?” Lisbon asked. 

“Love is overrated,” Lorelei replied. “Relationships without love are a lot less complicated to get out of, a lot less messy to deal with after you get bored with each other.”

“I used to think that was the case too,” Lisbon admitted. “But then. . .”

“But then you found Patrick and he changed your whole view on love and relationships?”

“Something like that,” Lisbon said, choosing another set of glasses that had ship’s masts on them. “I’m glad that he changed my mind, I’m glad that I was wrong. I just hope someday you meet somebody who can do the same thing for you.”

“I’m a cocktail waitress in Vegas,” Lorelei answered. “The only guys I meet are married businessmen. Or single businessmen who have very little time for love and marriage. The things they do have time for are a quick drink and a booty call.”

Lisbon was slightly shocked by the other girl’s language but she didn’t show it, she just let it slide and gently placed her glasses in the front seat of the carriage. “Come on, I need to pay for these and then we can get out of here and go to the Hot Chocolate Sparrow for iced coffees.”

“Okay,” Lorelei answered, nodding and following her to the cash registers. 

A little while later, they were sitting outside the Hot Chocolate Sparrow with hazelnut iced coffees. Lisbon was at a loss for words, she didn’t know what to say next and without Lorelei grilling her about her relationship with Jane, she didn’t want to say anything that hadn’t been scripted. And there was no way she wanted to interrogate the other brunette about her life. She didn’t want her to feel cornered or trapped.

Even though that was exactly what Lorelei was trying to do with her. If she was working for Red John.

Lisbon sucked her coffee through a straw and waited for Lorelei to continue her line of questioning, reciting her lines in her head while she did.

“So, why did you and Patrick choose to come to the Cape Cod of all places?” Lorelei finally asked. 

Lisbon shrugged. “Because he had a house here and we thought this would be the perfect place to settle down. . . if we decided that’s what we’re going to do when summer is over.”

“So, this is the summer where you two finally decide what you’re going to do with the rest of your lives? Is breaking up even an option?”

This was a question that Lisbon wasn’t prepared for, something her and Jane hadn’t practiced for. In fact, she had told Jane to put a pin that conversation, to save it for a later date. She swallowed her coffee and cleared her throat. 

“No,” she answered. “No matter what happens, breaking up isn’t an option at all. I-I love him. I really do and I can’t walk out on him, no matter what he’s not giving me. You don’t have to be married to be happy, you know? I’m perfectly content keeping things the way they are right now. Because I know that wearing a ring on my finger doesn’t mean he loves me more just as much as not wearing a ring on my finger doesn’t mean he loves me less.”

Lisbon could barely believe the words tumbling out of her mouth, but as soon as they had been said, she knew that they were completely and utterly true.

TBC. . .

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to post this a while ago, but time has kind of gotten away with me. I have been SO flipping busy lately, I forget things like crazy but I will not get into details about my life. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter, leave a review if you did. Looking forward to hearing from you!
> 
> Until next time.
> 
> Love,  
> Holly, 6/16/2014_


	7. Chapter 7

.

Chapter 7

I could burn in hell for the lies I am telling about mine and Jane’s relationship. I think that God will forgive me in the end though; it is for the greater good. And at the end of the day, Red John’s sins have to be greater than lying about how I feel about Jane. Right? I hope so, because I could burn in hell for all the lies I have been telling. . .

.

“How did things with Lorelei go?” Jane asked as he watched her wash the glasses she had purchased at the Christmas Tree Shop.

“Fine,” Lisbon replied, rinsing out the glass she was washing and setting it aside carefully. “I’m pretty sure that she believes me, which is a good thing but I can’t help feel guilty for lying to her.”

Jane nodded as he scratched behind Archie’s ears. He had known that lying was going to be tough on her because she was a good Catholic girl, for a second it had given him pause in asking her to help him. But she had been the only one qualified for the job to portray his girlfriend.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said. “I knew lying would be uncomfortable for you. . .”

“Don’t be sorry!” Lisbon answered as she turned to look at him. “I do hate lying but I’m glad you included me in your plan this time. I hate being out of the loop wherever one of your plans is concerned.”

“I know,” Jane said, putting Archie down. “Come on, let’s go to the Red Barn for dinner and then drive to the beach to watch the sunset.”

Lisbon nodded. “Okay. I’m just going to slip into shorts and a sweatshirt, I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll feed Archie and be up in a minute to get my sweatshirt,” Jane said. 

“Okay,” Lisbon replied, slipping out of the kitchen.

Once upstairs, she peeled her skinny jeans off and slipped into a pair of sand-colored linen shorts. She considered her sweatshirts for a moment and then decided on an emerald green sweater instead, hoping a little bit that maybe Jane would notice how it emphasized her eyes and complemented her dark hair. She stared at herself for a long while in the mirror and deemed herself acceptable just as he came into their bedroom. 

“Well?” Lisbon asked when she saw him over her shoulder, overtaken with boldness. “What do you think?”

“You look very nice,” Jane answered, pulling a Cape Cod sweatshirt over his head and running his fingers through his curls. “Do you want your Toms or your gladiator sandals?”

“I guess I’ll wear the gladiators,” Lisbon said, turning around and going to sit on the bed. 

Jane tossed her the silver sandals and she put them on, pulling the straps into place while he watched her.

“You do look really pretty,” Jane told her after a long moment of silence. “This lifestyle agrees with you.”

Lisbon looked up at him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears before finishing strapping her sandals. “You look really good too. . . maybe we should have done this a long time ago. Left everything behind us and ran away without looking back.”

“You would have resented it after a while. . . and the only reason you’re here right now is because you know that you can go back. If that weren’t the case, I can’t believe you would be here with me.”

Lisbon knew he was right but she didn’t want to think about it, so she smiled at him and smoothed her hands over her shorts. “Are you ready for dinner?”

“Yes,” Jane answered, coming over to her and helping her to her feet. “I just have to cage Archie and then we can get going.” 

.

“So, what did you and Lorelei talk about today?” Jane asked, taking a sip of his beer. 

“You,” Lisbon answered bluntly. “She wanted to know all about our relationship and how long we’d been together. I told her everything exactly the way we had rehearsed it.”

Well almost everything exactly the way we rehearsed it she added in her head.

Jane took her hand. “It’ll all be over soon,” he promised.

Lisbon sighed. “You keep saying that, but we’ve been here almost two months and the only thing we have to show for it is Lorelei checking up on us.”

“And that’s a good thing. He’ll see that I’m really moving on and he’ll either stop the killings or reveal his hand.”

“Knowing you, you’d want him to reveal his hand. You’ll never be settled until you know who he is and until you. . .” Lisbon trailed off, not wanting to finish her sentence. “Gee, the pizza is taking a long time getting here. By the time we’re done, we’ll have to race to get to the beach.”

“Don’t worry about it; we’ll have plenty of time to get there!” Jane told her. “Don’t change the subject. Of course I don’t want him to just stop killing and disappear off the face of the earth, I do want to meet him face-to-face. I do want to see. . . justice served and you do too. Not just for me, but for every girl’s murder you’ve had to investigate because of him.”

Right. But she would have preferred it if they could do it legal and by the book, not the way Jane had in mind. 

“Oh look, there’s our pizza!” She said cheerfully, looking at him with eyes that begged him to change the subject. 

“Oh good,” Jane replied lamely. “I’m starving.”

Lisbon bit her lip and sighed. “I know we need to talk about what’s going to happen if he does show up here, I’m just not ready to do it yet. Not over beer and pizza, not before we go and see the sunset.”

“I’m scared too,” Jane told her. “I really have no idea what I’m going to do if this doesn’t work out. In some ways this is my last resort, my only hope.”

“You’ll think of something,” Lisbon whispered, overwhelmed with a sudden wave of emotion. “You always do.”

Jane didn’t comment, instead he dropped his paper napkin in his lap and took a slice of pizza right after their waiter had put it down. They ate in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. 

Finally, Lisbon spoke, pinching the crust of her pizza and avoiding his eyes as she did. “I’m going to try and support you in whatever you want to do.”

“Even if it’s illegal?” Jane asked.

She closed her eyes and exhaled. “Even if it’s illegal.” 

Please don’t let it be illegal she prayed.

“Are you finished yet?” Jane asked, pulling out his wallet and throwing some bills onto the table.

Lisbon nodded, her appetite completely gone. Her nerves were getting the best of her, the lies catching up with her. She was afraid that all of it would be for naught and that they were going to be back at square one, that God wouldn’t forgive her and she truly would burn in hell for all the lies she was telling if it didn’t work out. She was afraid she was going to lose Jane for good. 

He got up and came around the picnic table; he took her hand in his and helped her to her feet. He didn’t say anything to her, but she knew that he knew every single thing that was bothering her. But to his credit he didn’t say anything; he didn’t tell her that everything was going to be okay or try to reassure her. He tightened his grip on her hand and let her worry just for a little bit.

.

Watching the sunset made her feel a little bit better. It was impossible to take in so much beauty and not have your spirits lifted. Lisbon sighed and her hand found Jane’s as they stood on Cohoon Hallow beach, the sun painting them in shades of pink and red and   
gold. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed.

On the way back to their little beach house, he stopped and bought her some ice cream because she hadn’t eaten all of her dinner. When they got home, they sat on the back porch and ate it straight out from the carton while she held Archie and pretended that everything was okay. 

That this really was their life. 

TBC. . .

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 8 is when it all really begins. Sorry for the long wait in an update, I hope there are people still reading this. Leave a review if you are! 
> 
> Until Next Time!


	8. Chapter 8

Lorelei opened the door to her house after the second knock. She had been expecting a visit from Thomas for days, but to her dismay it wasn’t the sheriff standing on the other side of the door but his Clark Kent-esque patsy, Julian Jones with his arms full of equipment.

“Hi Lorelei,” he said, pushing his thick black glasses up on the bridge of his nose and giving her a smile. 

“Julian,” she answered back, folding her arms across her chest. “What are you doing here?”

“Sheriff McAllister wanted me to come and survey some suspects,” Julian answered. “Something about them selling drugs. He said that you had befriended them and told me that you’d be more than happy to help me get into their house.”

Lorelei shook her head; Julian still wasn’t in the inner-circle of the Blake Society. As far as he knew, he was doing things lawfully and by the book. She almost felt bad for him but she squelched it quickly because she was the one who always had to deal with him. 

“Is something wrong?” Julian asked anxiously.

Lorelei forced a smile. “No, there isn’t anything wrong. Thomas said he was going to be here himself though, I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

“Yeah, he mentioned that he was supposed to come out here himself but something came up at home.” Julian looked at her suspiciously. “You do know he’s married, right?”

Lorelei’s irritation with the nerd was heightened. “Yes Julian, I know he’s married!”

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt,” Julian retorted, shifting the black bag that was weighing uncomfortably on his shoulder. 

Lorelei sighed and stepped aside from the door. “Come on in before you break your arm or something,” she said. “Are you staying here with me or did Tom put you up in a hotel somewhere.”

Julian looked even more uncomfortable as he followed her into the house. “Well. . .”

Lorelei closed her eyes and shut the door behind them. “I’ll go and make up the guest room. Are you hungry? There’s leftovers in the fridge, feel free to make yourself at home.”

“I’m fine,” Julian replied. “I ate on the plane.”

“Oh.”

“Nice place,” Julian said, dropping his bags on the couch. 

“You’re wondering what I am to him, aren’t you?” Lorelei asked. 

“It isn’t any of my business,” Julian replied quickly. 

“Doesn’t matter, you’re still wondering about it.”

“It isn’t any of my business,” he repeated a little more firmly than before. “You need to take me to meet your friends tomorrow. Tell them that I’m your boyfriend or something.”

“My boyfriend is in Europe,” Lorelei answered.

“Well then, tell them that I’m here for a few days to visit you. Really, I just want to get in and out of here as quickly as possible.”

“Fine,” Lorelei muttered. “So, why do you think you’re here?”

“I told you,” Julian said with the patience of a saint. “Sheriff McCallister is trying to bust Teresa Lisbon and Patrick Jane on drug charges. He wants me to set up surveillance to prove that they’re doing it.”

Poor naive Julian Lorelei thought to herself, shaking her head again. 

“Did you even bother researching them at all before you hopped a plane all the way over here?” Lorelei asked evenly.

“Yes. . .”

“Then you know that they’re both with law enforcement.”

“Just because they’re in law enforcement doesn’t stop them from being corrupt,” Julian replied easily. 

You have no idea. . . but she didn’t voice this aloud because her loyalties still lay with Red John. Not with Jane and Lisbon, and most certainly not with the unassuming Julian. Besides, if she said anything to him it would only mean bad things for the both of them and she didn’t want to face the end of Tom’s knife, she didn’t want a smiley face dripping with her blood to be the thing people identified her by. She didn’t want the beautiful Cape Cod to be tainted by a serial killer’s shadow and calling card.

“Come on,” she said. “You must be exhausted, let’s get you to bed. I’ll call Teresa and Patrick up in the morning and see if we can go over for a visit.”

“Thanks,” Julian answered. 

After she’d gotten Julian settled, Lorelei went back downstairs and poured herself a glass of red wine, and then she called up Tom.

“Hello Lorelei,” he said, picking up after the first ring. 

“Hey lover,” she cooed. 

“Did Julian get there safely?”

“Yes,” Lorelei answered, taking a long sip of her wine. “Julian got here safe and sound, I’ve got him all tucked into bed and everything. Thanks for giving me a head’s up about his arrival, by the way.” 

“I sent him to set up surveillance on Jane and Agent Lisbon.”

“I know,” Lorelei replied. “He told me all about it and how they’re selling drugs. Really Tom, when are you going to let him in on your dirty little secrets? Hasn’t he proven himself worthy of you yet?”

“Ha!” McAllister scoffed. “Julian doesn’t have the stomach to really play with me. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

“He’ll still get in trouble if you’re ever caught,” Lorelei told him. “Or does that matter to you at all?”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you had a soft spot for Julian.”

Lorelei laughed. “That geek?” she asked, lowering her voice to a whisper so he wouldn’t accidentally overhear her. “Yeah, right! I only have eyes for you.”

“It’s okay if you did like him,” he told her. “Everybody has desires that need to be fulfilled.”

“But with Julian?” Lorelei replied. “Please, I’m sure that boy doesn’t even know the meaning of the word seduce.”

“Well, I’m sure he does and in several different languages too.”

“He doesn’t know how to do it though,” Lorelei answered, taking another sip of wine and reveling in the way it warmed her throat. “You were supposed to come, I miss you.”

“I’ll be there soon,” McAllister assured her. “I just need to make sure of some things before I make a trip. We wouldn’t want it to be a waste, would we?”

“What are you planning on doing if they aren’t pretending?” Lorelei asked. "Are you going to take Teresa away from him?”

“Now why would I do that?” 

Lorelei didn’t answer, didn’t want to overstep her boundaries and say what she was really thinking, he wouldn’t like it if she did. 

“If I’m satisfied with what I see on screen then I’ll come and check things out for myself,” McAllister told her, breaking into her musings. “And if I truly believe he is moving on then I am going to leave him alone for the rest of their lives. He won’t be a threat to me anymore.”

“But are you going to give up the cause?” Lorelei asked. “Maybe if you don’t, he’ll decide to come out of retirement and start chasing you again.”

“Well then I’m just going to have to give him plenty of incentive not to start chasing me again. I would hate for him to lose somebody he cared about for a second time. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. I’m still not completely sure that this isn’t all just make believe so I will reveal myself to them.”

“What kind of evidence do you want exactly?” Lorelei asked, frowning. 

McAllister just laughed in response.

.

“Come on Julian!” Lorelei yelled late the next afternoon. “I just got in touch with Teresa and she said that we could go and eat with them! She said to come in the next twenty-five minutes because dinner is almost ready!”

Julian appeared with his hands in the pockets of his linen boat shorts. “Okay, okay! I’m coming!”

“Got everything you need?” Lorelei asked. 

“Yes!” Julian replied. “I don’t need much; Sheriff McAllister only wants me to bug their bedroom.”

Lorelei suddenly realized exactly what kind of evidence Thomas McAllister was looking for. She wasn’t a prude by any means but the thought of peeking into somebody else’s bedroom made her feel slightly uncomfortable. And she knew if Julian had the slightest bit of an inkling to what he was doing, he would feel the same way and refuse to do it.

But she didn’t say anything because it would only get the both of them into trouble.

“We’re taking my car,” she said. “It actually looks like something a wealthy boyfriend would purchase for his girlfriend. And if we want this to be believable, your car simply won’t do!” 

“Okay,” Julian answered agreeably. “Whatever works for you honey.”

Lorelei shook her head but she was smiling as she grabbed her purse and tossed him the keys. “Here, you can drive if you’d like.”

.

“Do you mind if I use your bathroom?” Julian asked after they’d finished eating.

“Of course not!” Teresa answered. “You can use the one off the kitchen or the one upstairs, if you’d like.”

Julian nodded and put his napkin down beside his plate. “Thank you, I’ll be right back.”

When he was gone, Lorelei smiled and engaged the pair in easy, distracting conversation. A few minutes later, Julian returned and took his seat again, looking like he just hadn’t gone and violated their personal space with tiny little cameras. 

Lorelei was relieved that he had a good poker face; she wasn’t sure how she would have covered for the both of them.

“I’ll help you clean up, Teresa,” she offered.

“Okay,” Teresa agreed, starting to gather up the plates. “Patrick, my love, why don’t you and Julian take Archie outside?”

Patrick pouted. “You’re no fun, I was just going to suggest Julian and I play chess.”

“I know,” Teresa answered, smiling at him as she planted a discreet kiss on the cheek. “That’s why I suggested you two take Archie out for a walk. Lorelei and I will join you in a few minutes, and then we can all walk down to PJs and get ice cream for dessert.”

“Fine,” Patrick said, pushing away from the table. “Come on Julian, I’ll introduce you to our dog.”

“I’d like that,” Julian answered, glancing at Lorelei.

She smiled at him encouragingly and then helped Teresa gather up the rest of the dishes. 

.

“So, Julian isn’t at all what I expected,” Teresa commented as she finished soap off the plates and handed them to Lorelei.

“I know,” Lorelei admitted. “But what can I say; he’s loaded and so attentive to me. Sometimes looks don’t matter, we can’t all be as lucky as you my friend. You really hit the jackpot with Patrick; he has everything a woman could ask for. Charm, money, looks, and he worships the ground you walk on.”

“I know, I know. . . isn’t it terrible?” Teresa replied, her smile betraying how happy it made her.

If she wasn’t faking how she felt about it. 

Lorelei really didn’t believe she was though. She never claimed to be the smartest woman in the world, but she knew things like love and lust when she saw it. 

And Teresa Lisbon definitely loved Patrick Jane. 

She wondered why it wasn’t more obvious to everyone, especially Thomas McAllister because he was so convinced that he was all-knowing. 

“You seem far away,” Teresa commented as she squeezed the sponge out. 

“Mmmh? Oh, I was just thinking,” Lorelei replied. 

“Well, come on everything’s done here. We can go and get some ice cream now.”

“Sure,” Lorelei said, pushing aside her feelings of apprehension aside. After all, she was dedicated to Red John and the Blake Society.

It wouldn’t do her any good to get emotionally involved with two people that he didn’t like.

.

Lorelei went to a bar after she had dropped Julian back off at her place. She was on her third beer and listening to an indie singer vocalize into the microphone when somebody touched her shoulder. 

She looked up and found herself looking into the eyes of her lover. He smiled at her and took the seat beside her, signaling the bartender, he ordered a club soda and then turned to look at her.

“Hello Lorelei,” he said.

TBC. . .

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still interested? I’m in the middle of chapter 9 right now, STAY TUNED! In the meantime, please leave a review in the box below and tell me what you think.
> 
> Until Next Time!


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_Lorelei has brought her “boyfriend” around, his name is Julian. Of course, he isn’t REALLY her boyfriend; he’s another one of Red John’s associates. But Jane says that he doesn’t know that he’s working for a serial killer. How do you NOT know that you’re working for somebody like that? Julian bugged our bedroom. . . Jane thinks Red John is looking for the ultimate proof that he has really moved on. I feel dirty, like a star in a cheap porn film with spoof names on famous movies. I haven’t had to perform yet, but I can’t help thinking its coming. And the thing is, if it does come to that. . . I would do it in a heartbeat._

Lisbon lay beside him that night, unable to sleep. The hidden cameras were taunting her and causing her grief. For the first time, she didn’t really feel like she’d be able to see the con completely through. Yes, she had had a handful of one-night stands before but it had never been to prove something to somebody and it had most certainly never been on camera before. The thought of somebody watching something so private made her skin crawl. 

And then there was the little detail that if she did it with Jane, it wouldn’t just be a one-night stand. It couldn’t ever just be that, they shared way too much history for a quick tumble. Maybe they had too much history to do it at all. 

“You’re thinking way too loudly,” Jane whispered, breaking into her thoughts. “Don’t worry; I’m not going to make you do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable.” 

“I didn’t mean to wake you up,” Lisbon whispered back.

“I was already awake,” Jane answered, turning on the lamp beside his bed and sitting up. He propped his pillows up and then leaned back. “Your tossing and turning had nothing to do with it. Now, what are we going to do about this new predicament? Obviously, we haven’t given him enough proof that I’ve really moved on.”

“Or he’s just a dirty pervert,” Lisbon said. 

“That goes without saying.”

Lisbon paused, carefully weighing their options. She couldn’t completely give herself to Jane that much she knew but she still wanted to help him. She still wanted to prove that they’d really given up the chase and had moved on.

“Kiss me,” she breathed, trying to stay calm and cool.

“Kiss you?” Jane asked.

“It isn’t everything but it’s something,” Lisbon replied. “Maybe it’ll be enough for now.”

She could see him trembling, see the wheels in his head turning, she held her breath, waiting for him to agree or disagree. Before she knew what was happening, his mouth was seeking her’s like an experiment. After a beat, it grew until it was something desperate and hungry and not at all pretend. 

When he pulled away, Lisbon was completely shaken up. She put her fingers to his lips, tracing them as she tried to collect herself.

“How long has it been?” She asked.

“A while,” Jane admitted. 

“I don’t care if our cover is blown,” Lisbon finally said, she swallowed hard and sat up. “I don’t want your first time since your wife to be because you’re trying to prove a point to catch a killer. I didn’t sign up for that.”

Even though she kind of had. 

“I understand,” Jane answered. “I never wanted you to do anything that would make you feel uncomfortable.”

“I’m going to sleep in the guest room,” Lisbon told him after another long moment of silence. 

“Stay,” Jane whispered. “We don’t have to do anything but I don’t want to be alone right now. Please just stay. . .”

Lisbon hesitated for a moment and then she lied down again, resting her wrist on her forehead and closing her eyes. “Okay. I’ll stay with you.”

“We’re going to figure this out,” Jane said.

“We always do,” she replied, smiling at him without opening her eyes.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight,” Jane confessed. 

“I’ll go and make some tea for you,” Lisbon offered.

“I don’t think tea’s going to help me tonight,” Jane answered. “My mind is going all over the place and there’s this part of me that can’t help thinking we’re in over our heads.”

“Hey, that’s my thing!” Lisbon replied, looking at him. “You’re supposed to be sure of this, you know.”

“But I’m not, I’m not sure of anything! And what if somewhere along the line, I lose you? What if he really does believe that I’ve moved on and he decides to take you from me? I don’t know how I would deal with that.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Lisbon said as she sat up again. “Do you hear me? I’m not going anywhere! I can protect myself, I’m a cop. I know how to do it, nothing’s going to happen. Do you understand? We’re going to be okay! We’re both going to survive this, I swear. And if we don’t, you can’t let it get to you. You have to keep on living and going on. I’ll hate you forever if you don’t!”

“You can’t hate me if you’re dead.”

Lisbon wanted to shake him, to scream and tell him to stop being so morbid. But she didn’t, instead she framed his face with her hands and kissed him again. “I don’t want you living with my ghost. I don’t want my death on your conscience. This was my choice. Nobody forced me to do it,” she whispered.

“We can’t do this,” he told her after she’d kissed him for a third time. “It isn’t right; I’m not going to let you sell yourself for me. I’m going to make some tea; can I get you anything while I’m downstairs?”

“No,” Lisbon answered. “I’ll be okay. Go and make your tea, clear your head, then come back and try to get some sleep. Everything will be okay in the morning.”

I hope, she added in her head.

He nodded and gave her a chaste kiss on the corner of her mouth before he left. Lisbon flopped back on the bed and sighed deeply as Archie came bounding in the room and jumped up on her chest. She grabbed him gently by the ears and took exhaled as she buried her face in the dog’s. “What am I going to do, boy?” 

She waited for an answer that she knew was never going to come.

TBC. . .

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I surprised myself with this chapter. It took everything in me not to let it go that way because we all know, I do NOT write those kinds of stories and I wouldn’t want their first time to be under those circumstances even if I did. I have at least three more chapters planned for this and a soundtrack in the works. In the meantime, I would love it if you would leave a review and tell me what you thought of the latest installment.
> 
> Until Next Time!


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

We kissed. It wasn’t just pretend. I don’t think we’ll be able to go back to the way things were before even though we’ll try.

It was almost five in the morning and he still hadn’t come back to bed. Lisbon supposed he had just camped out on the couch instead of having to face her. But when she went downstairs to see if she was right, she found him in the kitchen with his head in his hands, a cup of ice cold tea in front of him. 

“Aren’t you tired?” She asked, adjusting Archie. 

Jane shook his head. “No, not really.”

Lisbon put her hand on his arm. “Well, you should come and try to get a couple hours of sleep anyways.”

“I can’t sleep,” Jane answered.

“You never know unless you try.” 

“I can’t sleep,” Jane repeated. “Not in that room anyways. Not knowing he’s watching us and everything we do.”

“We can go and sleep in the guest room then,” Lisbon said. “Come on, you look like you could fall asleep sitting up.”

“I’m fine!” Jane insisted.

“Is this because we kissed?” Lisbon asked after a long moment. 

“No!” Jane answered quickly. “No, not at all! It’s not that. . .”

Lisbon played with Archie’s ears. “Okay then, I’m just going to go back to bed now. Unlike you, I’m a little tired. If you change your mind, I’ll be in the guest room.”

She was trying to get comfortable in the new bed when he came into the room and climbed in next to her. 

“It isn’t because we kissed,” he told her when she had turned around to look at him. 

“Okay,” Lisbon answered, curling up and tucking her head under the pillow to block out the early morning light. “Try and get some sleep now, it’s really late.”

This caused Jane to laugh a little bit and she smiled at the sound, the stress from the last few hours slowly melted away. 

Lisbon woke up a few hours later to the birds chirping outside her window and the pillows on the floor. The stiffness in her neck was so painful; she found it hard to move. She moaned and sat up, stretching her arms to the sky as she moved her head to the left then the right. Jane for his part was still sleeping peacefully on his back; Archie was curled up on his chest, awake but not budging. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was five minutes past ten. 

She smiled and carefully extracted Archie from his arms, careful not to wake him as she did. She went about her regular morning routine, taking care of Archie, making a pot of coffee and starting breakfast for her and Jane. 

As she finished making the egg mixture for the French toast, Jane joined her in the kitchen. 

“I guess I slept after all,” he told her as he lifted the kettle off the stove to boil water for his morning tea.

“See? I told you that you would,” Lisbon replied. 

“So, what’s for breakfast?” Jane asked, coming over and peeking over her shoulder.

“French toast,” she said. “Hope that’s okay with you.”

“It’s fine,” Jane answered. “Do you have anything planned for today?” 

“Not really. I thought maybe we could pack a picnic and then go to the Gull Pond for the day.”

Jane nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

“Good,” Lisbon said. “Do you want to make some sandwiches while I finish making breakfast?”

Jane nodded. “As soon as I’m done making my tea.”

Lisbon knew they were both avoiding discussing the night before and she was thankful for it. It might have been real, but she wasn’t ready to face it. Not with Red John looming over them like a dark cloud. She’d make a point to talk about it when it was all over and they could do something about their feelings without fear overshadowing them.

“How does roast beef sandwiches sound?” Jane asked.

“Don’t forget the yellow mustard,” Lisbon answered. 

“Of course not! Roast beef sandwiches just aren’t the same without yellow mustard!” Jane smiled at her and pulled out the deli meat and American cheese along with the yellow mustard. “Do you want to go out to eat tonight?”

“Are you just trying to get out of cooking?”

“Maybe,” Jane answered. “So, how about it?”

“Okay, but I get to pick where we eat.”

“Okay,” Jane agreed.

He finished making the sandwiches and then they ate breakfast together, making small talk and enjoying each other’s company. It wasn’t weird between them at all and that’s how Lisbon knew, one day when they could talk about it, they were going to be okay. 

.

They didn’t come home until late that night; they were a little sunburned and tired but totally contented. They took Archie out together and then changed into their pajamas before going back downstairs together for a light night bowl of ice cream. While Lisbon dished it out, Jane put some old music on a record player he’d purchased at the flea market a couple of weeks earlier. 

They ate their ice cream cross-legged on the living room floor to Baby Love. It was the perfect kind of day and Lisbon wanted to make it last forever. But pretty soon, their ice cream was gone and the music had stopped playing. So, they raced each other up the stairs and fell into their guest bed together. 

Jane sighed and tangled his fingers in her hair while she rested his chin on his chest. And as he kissed her on the mouth as a way to bid her goodnight, she knew it most definitely wasn’t pretend anymore even though neither of them had said it aloud.

It was a scary thing, realizing and accepting feelings that had been there for a very long time but had been ignored and pushed away because it was dangerously hot water to be getting into. But now, there was no way of getting out of it. . . 

Lisbon closed her eyes and buried her face in Jane’s chest, breathing in the leftover traces of pond water, sunblock, and pizza. She was filled with so much love and emotions that it overwhelmed her and she didn’t know what to do about it.

“I love you,” she mouthed, not brave enough to tell him to his face because if she did then everything was going to change forever and she wasn’t ready to face those kinds of changes yet.

TBC. . .

.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For full effect, listen to Requiem in D Minor by Mozart while you read this.

.

Chapter 11

“Lorelei, I’m going out!” McAllister said, coming into the kitchen where she and Julian were having a late ice cream sundae. 

“Where on earth are you going this late?” Lorelei asked, laughing a little. “Is it really true then? You have two women in every state?”

“I have proof is what I have,” he answered. “And I’m going to do something about it.”

“But you said. . .” Lorelei trailed off. “I hope you aren’t going to do what I think you’re going to do.”

“And what if I am?” McAllister asked. “What are you going to do about it? Nothing, that’s what, unless you want to pay the price. Now you stay here like a good girl and I’ll be back soon.”

Lorelei felt uneasy about what was going to happen. She knew whatever it was that it wouldn’t bode well for Patrick or Teresa. She waited for the front door to close and listened for the tell-tale sound of a car engine starting up. When it had driven away from the house, she sprang into action without even thinking. She grabbed Julian by the hand and dragged him to the door.

“You have to go Julian. You need to get into your car and drive as far away from here as you possibly can!” Lorelei told him. 

“What? Why!?” Julian asked struggling against her. 

“I can’t tell you why! Just do it okay?” Lorelei replied, shoving him against his rental car. “Just get out of here! I’ll call you when I get the chance.”

“Lorelei!” Julian said, wrenching free of her grasp and grabbing her shoulders. “What’s going on here? You need to tell me the truth right now!” 

“I can’t because telling you the truth will only get you into trouble or worse!” Lorelei said. “You just have to trust me, okay?”

“Lorelei, I can’t leave without knowing why. If you’re in any kind of trouble or danger, I want to know so I can help you!”

“You can’t help me,” Lorelei answered. “I’ve been at the end of a loaded gun for a long time now. I don’t even think I can help myself anymore. Now go!”

Julian hesitated for a moment. “But what are you going to do?” 

“I’ll call you when everything’s over,” Lorelei replied, kissing him on the cheek and freeing herself from his grasp.

She ran back to her house as fast as she could and went into her bedroom, she yanked open her top drawer and threw her lingerie all over the floor, searching for the gun McAllister had purchased for her ‘protection’, when he found it she checked to see if it was loaded. Seeing that it was, she flew back outside to her own vehicle, much to her relief, Julian was gone. She got into the convertible, threw the gun on the passenger seat and with shaking hands started the engine.

As she sped off, her heart was beating irregularly. Somewhere in the distance, thunder clapped loudly and gave it a great jump. But still, she continued on her journey breaking every speed limit until she had reached Teresa and Patrick’s little home. 

Sure enough, McAllister’s rental car was parked next to their own car. For a second, Lorelei felt like she was going to vomit. But she swallowed it down and hid her gun in the back of her jeans while she breathed a prayer to a God that she had rejected in her youth. When she reached the front door, it was already open wide, like an invitation for anybody to come in. She realized that he must have broken it down, with growing dread about what she was going to find, she continued into the home that had become familiar to her and up the stairs.

Lorelei’s heart started to pound in her throat when she heard his voice, soft and comforting with a sinister hint underneath it all. She pressed herself against the wall and listened to every ugly word of the one-sided conversation, her fear turning to rage with every breath Thomas McAllister took. 

“She’s quite beautiful, Patrick. I can see why you’re taken with her,” he said, laughing slightly. “It’s such a shame that I have to take her from you seeing that you’ve moved on so nicely.”

“I know who you are now,” Patrick answered. “I can call the authorities back in California and have them arrest you as soon as you get home.”

“I thought about that,” McAllister acknowledged. “But I don’t think you’re going to do it, I think you’re going to be so grief stricken that you won’t be able to do anything about it. You’ve loved and lost twice Patrick. I’ve won!”

“Please. . .” Teresa begged. “You don’t want to kill me; the police are already on their way. Either way, you’re going to be caught. Don’t add one more murder to your rap sheet.”

“I don’t care about my rap sheet!” McAllister snapped. “Can’t you see darling? This murder is personal. I like seeing Patrick Jane suffer! And to take away the woman who gave him love after he thought he’d never have it again will be my greatest triumph in this game of cat and mouse!”

Lorelei’s breath caught in her throat as she imagined the scene in the room next to her. Outside it had started to pour and she could hear the tell-tale sound of police sirens in the distance. They weren’t coming fast enough for her taste though, with one final prayer she pulled her gun out and cocked it before charging into the guest room. 

Teresa and Patrick were tied up on the bed, both looking calmer than she felt. Thomas McAllister stood over them unmasked and menacing. He turned around when he heard movement in the doorway.

“I told you not to interfere Lorelei!” He said, not even noticing she had the gun pointing straight at him.

“Go away Lorelei!” Teresa ordered. “Go away now!” 

Lorelei shook her head, all of her fear left her in one great rush. “I’m not going anywhere!” 

“That was the wrong thing to say,” McAllister said, giving her his full attention. “And it’s such a shame too, because I like you Lorelei. You’re not bad to look at and you’re great in bed. I hate to see something happen to you.”

Lorelei’s hand tightened around the barrel of her gun. “Yeah, it was fun while it lasted. But it’s over now. It’s all over now.”

“Oh?” McAllister asked, lunging for her. 

It all happened at once, before she knew what was happening, her finger had curled around the trigger and she’d shot him. And then time was moving in slow motion. She fell backwards, taking McAllister with her while Mozart symphonies rang in her ears and there were voices, so many voices. She had to struggle to recognize some of them. One of them was Julian’s. 

He had pulled her former lover off her and was helping her sit up. 

“Lorelei,” Julian said. “Lorelei, are you okay? Oh god, there’s so much blood!”

“It’s not mine,” Lorelei told him as she looked down at her designer tank top, her voice sounded distant. She looked at him, feeling like she was in a dream. “What are you doing here? I told you to leave.”

“I didn’t listen,” Julian answered. “I waited for you to leave the house and then I followed you here. Tell me what’s going on! Tell me now!” 

“There isn’t enough time!” Patrick interjected. “You both need to help us out of these ropes and then get out of here as fast as you can. Drive until you can’t drive anymore but get as far away from this place as you possibly can.”

Lorelei watched as Julian got to his feet and untied Teresa first. When he turned to help Patrick, he shook his head. “Get out of here now! The police will be here soon!”

“Okay,” Julian said, going to Lorelei and scooping her up like she was as light as a feather and then he sprinted off. 

The last glance she got of Teresa and Patrick was of him untying her and then the pair clinging to each other in a tender embrace. 

“My car,” Lorelei said when they had gotten outside. “What are we going to do with my car?” 

Julian put her down into the car and then pulled the top up. “Drive, I’ll be right behind you. We can ditch it somewhere when we’re outside the Cape.”

Lorelei nodded, surprised that the police hadn’t gotten there by then. But she didn’t think about it as she turned the car back on and sped away with Julian on her tail.

They drove all through the night, only stopping once to ditch her convertible at a gas station when they were in the middle of nowhere. Julian paid the attendant a good deal of money to scrap it and keep quiet about them ever being there. 

When they were together, he gave her a sweatshirt from the backseat of his car and stuffed her blood-stained tank under his seat. 

“I’ll take care of it later,” he promised.

It was the last thing he said to her until they were holed up in a fleabag motel outside of Connecticut; they were both staring at fast food breakfasts and cheap coffee, to spent to even think about eating. 

“Tell me the secret,” he whispered like the walls had ears. 

“You’re going to hate me when I do,” Lorelei answered, managing a swallow of coffee.

“I won’t,” Julian said. “But we’re on the run now, I deserve to know why. My whole life has changed in such a short amount of time.”

Lorelei sighed and flopped down on the bed, making circles in her stomach. “Once upon a time there was a young confused girl and she met somebody, somebody who was supposed to change her life. But he wound up helping her make a bigger mess of things then when she first started out. . .”

She told him the whole sordid story and when she reached the end of it, she waited to see the loathing and rejection in his eyes. Instead, he lay down next to her and took her hand in his; he interlaced their fingers and looked at her with so much sympathy it almost broke what was left of her heart. 

“We’re kind of the same you know? We both fell victim to Thomas McAllister,” Julian told her. “Don’t worry; I’m going to keep you safe now. We’ll take care of each other and I’ll keep all your secrets. Now get some sleep, we’re going to have to leave in a few hours.”

But Lorelei couldn’t sleep, there were too many images dancing in front of her eyes and there was this fear that no matter how far she ran away, the demons from her past would wind up catching up with her.

TBC. . .  
.


	12. Chapter 12

.  
Chapter 12  
Red John is gone. He was somebody we knew from a case years ago, a person we never thought we’d see again after we closed the case. Lorelei Martins, the person he sent to spy on us, killed him. The one person we thought was going to ruin our lives was the one who saved them in the end. Jane sent her away after it was all over with; he took the blame and said it was an intruder and that he shot him in self-defense. The only thing I’m allowing myself to feel right now is a sense of calm. There is one less evil person in the world now; the women of California are a little safer than before. My job is done, not completely and fully, but I don’t have to look anymore. Jane is peaceful now, he didn’t get to take care of him like he wanted to, but I think he got a sense of justice in the way he went. Now I need to tell him what I am going to do now that the con is over. I only hope that he will accept my decision.

Lisbon looked at the blood-stained rug in the guest room and released a deep sigh. A new rug was going to have to be purchased; she didn’t think there were too many carpet cleaners who would agree to clean a rug that a murdered person had bled out on. She wouldn’t be there to see the new rug though. She needed to go home; there was a case to close and a life to be lived. She would ask Jane to go with her, but if he refused then she wouldn’t put up a fight. It wasn’t worth it, yes they had shared a few kisses and she loved him, but there wasn’t any promises made.

Everything could be easily forgotten with somebody else’s mouth, with somebody else to warm the left side of her bed. It wouldn’t be the same kind of love she felt for Jane, it might not even be love at all. But at least it would be moving on. Sort of. 

She took one more look at the rug then she turned around to go to the master bedroom and pack her suitcases. 

She’d just lugged them out from under the bed when Jane came into the bedroom with Archie at his heels.

“Going somewhere?” He asked a hint of teasing in his voice.

“I’m going home,” Lisbon answered.

Jane’s smile faltered. “But I thought. . .”

“What did you think? Red John died almost a month ago,” Lisbon said. “I need to go home; I have a job that I need to get back to. I have an apartment I’m still paying a lease on, I can’t stay here and play house anymore. It’s time to get back to reality. You can come with me if you’d like.”

Jane shook his head. “You really sound like you want me to come with you, there.” 

“I do!” Lisbon said.

“It was tacked on to the end of a long list of reasons you need to go back to California.”

“What do you want me to do? Give you a long gushy speech about how wonderful we can be together? Do you want me to tell you I can’t live without you and beg you to come with me?” Lisbon asked. “You know that isn’t my style.”

“No it isn’t,” Jane agreed. “But you can at least show a little enthusiasm when you ask me to come with you. Make me believe you want me there.”

“I do want you there,” Lisbon answered. 

“I don’t want to go,” Jane replied. “Except for you, I don’t have anything left there.”

“You have a job with the CBI and the team. . .”

“We both know I wasn’t ever going to stay with the CBI long-term, it was just a means to an end. A way to pass the time,” Jane said. “And as for the team, I think the only real reason they put up with me is because it made you happy.” 

“We could have a life there though,” Lisbon told him as she took her clothes from their assorted drawers and started to pack them away. “We did have a life there.”

“I hardly had a life there,” Jane answered. “Nights on a leather couch or in a ratty long-stay hotel doesn’t count as a life.”

“You had me though,” Lisbon said. “That had to count for something.” 

“It counted for everything,” Jane replied. “I’m just ready to move on and make a new life. Here. . . with you. I wish you would stay here, I think we have a real shot at happiness.”

“I can’t just give up my whole entire life in California for you!” 

“You already did!” Jane retorted.

“But it was only temporary!” Lisbon insisted. “I always knew I was going back to something settled. . . something real!”

“We are settled here! This is real!” Jane all but shouted. “I know we could make a life here. You could work for the police station or something like that and I thought I could go back to school, try and get a real job in the real world.”

Lisbon looked shocked at his revelation but she recovered quickly and pressed on with her argument. “I can’t just walk into a police station and ask for a job! And they might not even let you into college; you didn’t even go to high school!”

“I got my GED a long time ago,” Jane replied. “But that’s beside the point. This is about you and me and the life we could have together. Please say you’ll stay, I need you!”

“I can’t stay,” Lisbon whispered. “Come with me.”

“I can’t go with you,” Jane whispered back. 

Lisbon took a deep breath. “Fine then. I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

“When are you leaving?” Jane asked.

“I bought my plane tickets for tomorrow morning,” Lisbon answered. “But I’m going into Boston tonight because I have to catch an early flight.”

“Do you need a ride to the airport?”

“I have transportation,” Lisbon said. “I thought it would be better that way, we can say goodbye quickly.”

Jane nodded. “I understand. I’ll be on the back porch, come and see me. We can say our goodbyes there.”

Lisbon’s throat tightened and she nodded. “Okay.”

She finished packing in silence, not stopping until her phone rang, the person on the other end told her that her taxi would be there soon. She zipped up her suitcase and lifted it up off the bed. She made her way down the stairs and to the porch.

“I’m going.”

Jane looked up from the book he was pretending to read and nodded. He tossed the book aside and got to his feet, coming over to her. Lisbon knew what was going to happen, there would be one more hug. One more kiss. For old time’s sake. . . to keep them both going when the days were completely gray and cloudy. She let him do it, she kissed him back. Tried not to commit him to memory, tried to form sentences that weren’t fragmented. 

She pulled away and touched the cuffs of his sweatshirt. Goodbye was on the tip of her tongue, but goodbye was the saddest word and she couldn’t say it. 

“I’ll see you later,” she whispered.

“I hope so,” Jane whispered back, kissing her one more time as the taxi driver pulled up and started to honk.

Lisbon tore herself away and ran out of the house as fast as she could lugging her suitcase. The taxi driver got out of the car as she approached and took it from her, tossing it in the trunk for her as she got into the backseat of the bright yellow vehicle. 

As the car drove away, she turned around and watched the house disappear from view. She told herself that she wasn’t going to cry but as soon as they had gotten to Cahoon Hollow Road, she was crying more than she had in years.

Without looking back, the taxi driver handed her a box of Kleenex tissues. 

TBC. . .

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another quick update, I’m going out of town tomorrow for a few days, so I wanted to get this out there before I left. I know it’s kind of a hard chapter to read. I had a tough time writing it, but I’ve planned on this and the ending that is coming since I first put this story down on a word document and posted it on Fan Fiction. Please bear with me as I finish our journey through the Cape Cod. I promise that you will not be disappointed. Also, that soundtrack I told you about will be available today. You can find it on 8tracks under the same name I use here. Or tweet me at golightlyholly2 for a link. AO3 users can find a masterlist and link in my profile.


	13. Chapter 13

.  
Chapter 13  
“Do you have any idea what you’re coming back to?” Van Pelt asked when she had picked Lisbon up at her apartment a few days later. 

Lisbon frowned. “What do you mean?” 

“Boss, you didn’t hear!? Our whole unit was shut down at the CBI; Bertram had been working with Red John the whole time! And the corruption doesn’t stop there either! There are FBI agents and all sorts people working with him. Partridge was involved with it too! How could you not hear it? It’s been national news!”

“I. . .” Lisbon faltered. “I guess I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the news. . .”

“Oh,” Van Pelt said as she pulled into the CBI parking lot. “Well, there’s this FBI agent who wants to question you. His name is Dennis Abbott; he thinks you might be a member of the Blake Association because you weren’t around.”

“Did anybody bother to tell him that we were trying to smoke out Red John?”

Van Pelt hesitated and then she shook her head. “It isn’t like we knew where you two went. You didn’t exactly clue us in on what you were doing or where you were going. As far as any of us were concerned, you’d run away together.”

“Like I would ever do something like that!” Lisbon replied, unbuckling her seat belt and jamming her arms into her blazer. 

“Wouldn’t you though?” Van Pelt asked boldly.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” Lisbon answered. “Jane asked me to stay with him and I came back here because I have a life that needs to be lived, I can’t play house anymore.”

“Well, congratulations on doing what you thought the right thing was.”

“Van Pelt. . .”

“You aren’t my boss anymore,” Van Pelt reminded her. “I don’t exactly have to watch what I say to you.”

Lisbon sighed and glanced at the time on her phone. “I have to go and meet with Agent Abbott. We’ll discuss this when I’m finished.”

“Fine,” Van Pelt said, settling back into her seat and pulling a novel from her purse. 

.

A couple of hours later, Lisbon returned and slid into the front seat without a word, 

“How’d it go?” Van Pelt asked as she tossed her book aside and started the car.

Lisbon shook her head. “Fine. He believes I didn’t have any involvement with the Blake Association, but he also said that it would be hard for me to get a job given the way I handled Jane when we worked here. Everything I thought I was coming back to has slipped through my fingers and I don’t know what I’m going to do now.”

“You could give it all up,” Van Pelt said. “We don’t need you anymore, run to something for once in your life not away from it.”

“But my apartment. . .”

“Can easily be packed up and rented to somebody else,” Van Pelt told her. “I know that the next thing you’re going to mention is your family, I bet they’ll be happy for you if you do this. I know you haven’t done anything crazy before, so it’s time to do something crazy. Act like a teenager in love for once. I already have a plane ticket for you and your bags are all packed and in my trunk. Everything’s already been arranged, all you need to do is go today.”

“Does Jane know that you’ve planned all this?”

“No, nobody told him. We didn’t want to get his hopes up if you decided not to go after all,” Van Pelt answered. 

“We?” Lisbon asked.

“We’re all in on this,” Van Pelt answered. “Cho, Rigsby, and I. We just want the both of you to be happy. I don’t think it’s possible for you two to be happy without the other though.”

Lisbon considered this for a moment. She didn’t want to be a person who changed her mind constantly, but now that there really wasn’t anything for her in California, she couldn’t see what was holding her back from returning to Jane in the Cape Cod. He had been right, they could build a life together somewhere away from the angst of their old lives. She hadn’t wanted to listen to him even though she loved him.

She took a deep breath and scrubbed her face with her hand. It was time to allow herself to really love somebody, for once she had to make a sacrifice for somebody she loved because it was only fair to him. Asking him to come back to a place that had caused him so much pain wasn’t.

“Boss?” Van Pelt asked.

“Take me to the airport,” Lisbon answered as she exhaled. 

Cho and Rigsby were waiting for them when they got to the airport. They helped her bring her bags into the airport then they all wished her goodbye and the best of luck. Lisbon promised to keep in touch with all of them, her heart swelling in her chest as the impending journey back to Jane stretched out in front of her. 

Before they parted ways, Cho gave her a book to read on the plane and Rigsby gave her money for lunch. Van Pelt hugged her and wished her the best of luck. Lisbon promised to keep in touch with all of them and invited them to come for a visit the next summer. 

Then she went through security and she didn’t look back once, there wasn’t any need to anymore. She only had everything to look forward to and she couldn’t deny the butterflies stirring up in her stomach or the little thrill of excitement that shot down her spine. 

.

She arrived in Boston early the next morning, tired but not willing to stop and check into a hotel to take a nap. If she hurried, she would be back in Wellfleet for breakfast. She could hardly wait to see Jane again and it took everything in her not to call him to make sure he was still at their little cottage. 

There was a driver waiting for her when she descended down the escalator and she blessed her former team for being so thoughtful. He helped her with her bags and into the backseat of the car. Before they had even left Boston, Lisbon was sound asleep. 

An hour and fifty-three minutes later, she was home. She stood outside for a long moment, taking in her surroundings. She’d only been away for a few days but it felt like a lifetime. The door opened and Jane stepped outside, dressed in his pajamas and holding Archie. 

“It’s you,” he said, looking at her like she was a ghost. “You’re here. . . are you here to stay?”

“Yes. That is if you’ll have me,” Lisbon answered tentatively. 

“Of course I’ll have you,” Jane answered, touching her face and lifting her chin up to look at him. “But what happened in California to bring you back here?” 

“It turns out the things that I thought I was going back to weren’t there anymore,” Lisbon answered. “And even if they were, they probably wouldn’t have been the same without you. You are the most important person in my life; I don’t know what I would do without you. I love you Patrick. You’re my home.”

Jane swallowed and nodded. “I love you too.”

She smiled and then kissed him, dropping her bags and wrapping her arms around his neck as she did. Archie yelped when he squeezed her and they pulled apart, laughing a little bit. 

“There are stipulations to this,” Lisbon told him when they had gone into the house and he’d made her coffee. “I don’t want to play house anymore, I want to do it the right way.”

“With a ring and everything?” Jane asked.

“With a ring and everything. We can get married as soon as possible,” she answered. “And I’ll help you with your classes and we can spend the summers and holidays here. You did sign up for college, right?”

“Yeah, right after you left. I even have an apartment lined up in Boston,” Jane replied.

“Well then, I’ll see about getting some of my furniture shipped out here and we can set up house.”

“Are you sure you want this?” Jane asked. “You’ve been alone for years, jumping right into something serious like this might not be the best thing for you. And what about work? Don’t you want to continue solving crimes?”

“For once in my life, I haven’t thought about it. Maybe one day I will, but right now I just want to be with you, I want to figure out us first. Everything else will come later, I’m sure. I want this; I want it more than I ever thought I would.”

“Me too,” Jane told her, lacing his fingers through her’s and closing them tight. 

.

My lover belongs to me and I am to him.

Song of Songs 6:3, NAB_

_The End_ 

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the original ending the whole time. From Lisbon giving up what she wanted for Jane’s sake, to her final journal entry being at the end of the chapter and from Song of Solomon. I hope you liked it and that it wasn’t too controversial because I know we’re used to seeing Jane losing control and giving everything up for Lisbon in fan fiction. Heck, he even did it in “Bluebird”. Which, I think he needed to do for the show, but I just wanted to mix things up for this story. Tell me what you thought in a review and I’ll see you for my next story.


End file.
